😊
???
I’m overthinking I know, but it’s driving me insane.
I’ve recently called it a day with a relationship (and I’m fine, no drama, no heartache, wasn’t as serious as what I was looking for) but met this 😊 guy once before lockdown at a get together for some friends. We’ve friends in common but they aren’t super close friends of either of us. He’s an acquaintance but we’ve WhatsApped back and forward in lockdown and spoke once on the phone (I bought something for a shared hobby from him) before mainly moving to WhatApp texts. It was a nice phone call, the conversation was easy, we made each other laugh.
I find him physically attractive, he’s got a brilliant reputation as a decent, good man, and he’s generally a brilliant communicator. I’d be interested in meeting up to see if there is any proper chemistry. We’ve got a lot in common. We are both single, no kids and mid 30s.
I got it into my head a while back that he “just wasn’t that into me” or whatever that silly book was called. He sends long messages but I never got a flirtatious vibe. I’d really put him out of my head and then he sent me a message earlier this week (about a mutual interest), volunteering more info about himself than usual and, like most of his messages, peppered with 😊.
As in “Hey there, Ruth 😊” “please take care of yourself, stay safe 😊”
whenever I’ve messaged him first he always says “it’s really lovely to hear from you 😊”. I’ve had the odd 😉 from him...but usually not in any flirty situation...more like “hope braving the shops was worth it 😉”. Generally our communication is about our mutual interest and mutual friends.
Is the 😊 emoji significant in any way?! Is it some sort of secret “wink wink nudge nudge” code? Does it mean “hello I am unthreatening and like you as a friend please do not try and get in my boxers 
”?
By not communicating with emojis at all in response am I fucking anything up?!
Please help a hopeless gal out!
If it wasn’t for this stupid pandemic, we probably would have been at a few events together and I’d be able to tell in person whether there’s anything there or not and I’d have asked him out if there was. But as it is, it’s all a bit awkward.
Based on previous use of this emoji one guy turned into an obsessive sort who was super “into me” which was alarming and the other turned out to be gay and in the closet.
I doubt either is the case with this fella but I guess I’m shit at emoji deciphering 
.